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View Full Version : Re: What is the best Pathfinder AP to Solo as Necromancer (Both RP and Mech)?



M. Arillius
2020-04-04, 01:45 AM
So my fiance has picked up about half the fricking Pathfinder (1e) Adventures (and is willing to grab more) and wants to run me through one or two of them while we're locked down (and for me to run her through some). We like to run solo games all the time so this won't be anything new. I've been itching to play a necromancer through a whole campaign for pretty much the entire time I've been playing D&D. It almost happened twice, but the dreaded hiatus killed my Dwarf Necromancer and another just never got off the ground.

So I want to know what's the best Adventure Path to play a Necromancer. Specifically the undead horde variety. I've already played Rise of the Runelords but, other then that, I'm open to anything! Heck, I'm even open to modules or adventure paths from other editions or even systems (though you will be making more work for my fiance. XD)

Now this can be a bit subjective in terms of what 'best' means so I'll give some general outlines to explain what I'm looking for!

1. Roleplay - I don't want to just play a necromancer without consequence. I enjoy the roleplay, and my fiance is very good at taking Modules and Adventure Paths and adding quite a bit, but the more there is to begin with the better. A game with barely any NPC's or a real focus on story, like a dungeon delve, would probably be right out in this case. Nothing wrong with them but it really takes away the risk of being a necromancer if most of the dark and twisted things I do for power are in a dungeon where no one would notice. So any game where there's a good amount of NPC's, reoccurring or otherwise, to interact with, to get caught by, to have to deal with, would be great.

As a side note, my fiance loves 'reflavoring' as an option for stories. So instead of a straight wizard necromancer, if the story fit I could be playing a Dhampir with a bunch of thralls (some more... emancipated then others). Mechanically little would change but it means I could go from being a dark priest or wizard to some bastard noble child with a dark secret and strangely quiet servants. Could mean instead of just the usual paladins breathing down my neck, I have vampire hunters. Or maybe I'm a shaman esque character who speaks to spirits?

Whatever the case feel free to consider variations of the necromancer theme open for this part and even throw out suggestions!

2. Theme - I love when a choice I make just fits thematically. Playing a rogue for the Council of Thieves, for instance, is probably a safe bet. Playing a Paladin for Wrath of the Righteous seems like the go to by peoples recommendations. Are there any games where playing a necromancer actually fits the theme? (No spoilers please, I will definitely take you at your word.) I'm gonna guess from the Gothic Horror theme of Carrion Crown, that would fit? But unfortunately my fiance really wants to play that one herself. Sorry to take that off the table!

3. Mechanics - Being a necromancer in a story is fun. Being a necromancer in a story where necromancy is a main, or even a secondary, focus would be great. But it would all be for naught if I could really enjoy my necromancer kind of kicking butt, right? Well, at least this is something I'd like to happen. Kingmaker, judging by it's summary, appears to be perfect from a pure mechanical standpoint. I can have an army and it can be my force as I forge through those lands... My big concern is that it might be too open and not have enough RP chances, you know? Skulls and Shackles could be cool! Undead pirates do work pretty well. Whatever lets me enjoy having a horde of undead to some degree.

I'm not certain what games wouldn't allow for some use of undead armies, they are a very versatile tool, but if a module or path seems like it'd be really good or bad for the sheer numbers I'd have then please let me know!

4. Story - My fiance is a great DM and storyteller, and she's done a lot to beef up modules and adventure paths that... lacked a bit... But it would be nice not to make her do too much work on this front, if we can avoid it. So definitely a priority (albeit lower, because of aforementioned editing she can do) is how good the module is on it's own.

One final thing! I'm not really all that concerned with soloing the game, so Adventure Path difficulty is more or less not an issue. We've been soloing a lot of content for a while and have learned to adjust when something is too hard (or, admittedly, too easy).

Thank you all for taking the time to read this!

stack
2020-04-05, 08:35 AM
Carrion crown would be a rough choice anyhow; "burn the witch" would be an issue, at least in the parts I have played.

Red hand of doom from 3.5 could probably work. The 3pp way if the wicked would likely work well, but I haven't played it.

Psyren
2020-04-05, 02:49 PM
Your best bet is to talk to your GM and the rest of your party out of game first. Necromancy is an evil act in Golarion, and outside of a few specific places like Geb is treated with almost univeral hostility, but all that means is that you probably can't be good-aligned - non-good characters are still capable of heroism, and adventuring alongside good parties. If you have someone in the party that is likely to be wholly incompatible, like a paladin or a Pharasmin cleric, work out some kind of compromise outside of game first or just shelve the character, but definitely don't try to hide what you are from your teammates (and especially don't try to hide anything from your GM) just so you can be a special snowflake of some kind.

That covers the intraparty conflict side of things (which is the most important consideration) - your next is to worry about NPCs in the world. As long as you make an effort to be circumspect about your activities - i.e. not flaunting, not strolling around town with a retinue of skeletons, not showing up in the marketplace covered in bones and skulls etc. - then you should be able to work something out with your GM where you're not being chased by pitchfork-wielding mobs in every town you go to. Your chosen vocation might have consequences occasionally, but as long as you're open and honest with the GM about what you want to accomplish, they shouldn't rise to the level of derailing the campaign or forcing any kind of ultimatum with the party

As long as you expect that your activities could create complications for the party if widely known - no different than if you were a thief or assassin or cleric of an evil deity, and act accordingly (i.e. with circumspection/restraint) - you should be able to play this concept out in almost any AP.

M. Arillius
2020-04-06, 05:16 PM
Carrion crown would be a rough choice anyhow; "burn the witch" would be an issue, at least in the parts I have played.

Red hand of doom from 3.5 could probably work. The 3pp way if the wicked would likely work well, but I haven't played it.

Ah, I'm glad I'm not missing out on Carrion Crown then! I've never heard of Red Hand of Doom but thanks for letting me know about it! Gonna have to find that. And Way of the Wicked could definitely work, but alas that is one of the few AP's I've actually played, so I plan on running my 'no, I can't kill them, maybe they're misunderstood' fiance through it instead. XD


Your best bet is to talk to your GM and the rest of your party out of game first. That covers the intraparty conflict side of things (which is the most important consideration)

I know I wrote a lot but I definitely mentioned at the top of the post it would be me and my fiance playing, with her DMing for me, and specifically said at the end that this would be a solo game and not to be concerned about being able to actually play the game. So pretty much everything about the party stuff kind of seems... strange? Like you read my topic and not my post.


You should be able to play this concept out in almost any AP.

So... tldr? Listen man, if you didn't want to read my post, that's fine, but responding to a thread you definitely didn't read is kind of rude. The whole point of this thread isn't 'can I play in a Pathfinder AP with a necromancer'. It's 'which game is best to play a necromancer from a roleplay, story, mechanical and thematic perspective'? As someone whose never gotten the chance to play this infamous class in D&D I want the most bang for my buck.

If you have some info on that I'd appreciate it but, otherwise, I think I'm good on the whole 'party conflict', considering it's a party of me and my undead minions, and GM conflict, given that it's my fiance who regularly DM's for me. Thanks though. At the very least you've inspired me to change my topic for those that think my post was tldr.


You probably can't be good-aligned - non-good characters are still capable of heroism, and adventuring alongside good parties.

More of a side argument here, since I settled on LN. There is literally nothing saying someone can't be both good and a necromancer. Certainly there's a lot to suggest that someone being a necromancer who is evil is by and far the most common option, but between various cultures viewing things differently, various RP options to play a necromancer with specific RP ideals or codes about their power, the alignment system itself being fairly fluid and open to interpretation, and literally no consequences for casting evil spells all the time for a good character it's pretty much a non-issue.

Grek
2020-04-06, 06:00 PM
Why not Kingmaker? The premise is that you've been send south to form a buffer state between the kingdom of Brevoy and the lawless, bandit-filled River Kingdoms. A necromancer wanting to found a kingdom where necromancy is legal and where they are the eternal lich-king is totally in brand for Kingmaker. You said no spoilers, so I'll just confirm that the module has several potential plot hooks for the ethically flexible wizard.

Psyren
2020-04-06, 06:31 PM
I appear to have offended, so I'll leave you with this:



More of a side argument here, since I settled on LN. There is literally nothing saying someone can't be both good and a necromancer.

APs are set in Golarion, where this is not the case. With just two people playing, that's pretty easy to houserule away/ignore, but it's not the default. Sources, if you want them, include Horror Adventures, Champions of Corruption, and Book of the Damned.

Reversefigure4
2020-04-06, 06:58 PM
Why not Kingmaker? The premise is that you've been send south to form a buffer state between the kingdom of Brevoy and the lawless, bandit-filled River Kingdoms. A necromancer wanting to found a kingdom where necromancy is legal and where they are the eternal lich-king is totally in brand for Kingmaker. You said no spoilers, so I'll just confirm that the module has several potential plot hooks for the ethically flexible wizard.

Seconded, with a few more points:

- KM has lots of periods of long downtime, ideal for replenishing your undead minion supply.
- It's plot hooks work well for good or evil types, since "defend your kingdom from threats" works well for many types of characters.
- It's not good if what you want to explore is the "hide my secret necromancy from everyone" angle. Since you're the king and make the law, there's less reason to try and conceal it from society at large.

M. Arillius
2020-04-06, 07:03 PM
Why not Kingmaker? The premise is that you've been send south to form a buffer state between the kingdom of Brevoy and the lawless, bandit-filled River Kingdoms. A necromancer wanting to found a kingdom where necromancy is legal and where they are the eternal lich-king is totally in brand for Kingmaker. You said no spoilers, so I'll just confirm that the module has several potential plot hooks for the ethically flexible wizard.

That does sound like a pretty good playground for that sort of thing!


Seconded, with a few more points:

- KM has lots of periods of long downtime, ideal for replenishing your undead minion supply.
- It's plot hooks work well for good or evil types, since "defend your kingdom from threats" works well for many types of characters.
- It's not good if what you want to explore is the "hide my secret necromancy from everyone" angle. Since you're the king and make the law, there's less reason to try and conceal it from society at large.

I can still see potential in having to hide my secret for at least a bit if I want to get anyone to work for me, aside from other undead. Or in dealing with other Kingdoms? Sounds like a lot of work for my fiance but I'm not opposed. XD

Ultimately it sounds like Kingmaker scores several marks on what I'm looking for, with one of the only areas really lacking being the RP angle of some consequence/trouble for being a necromancer. I'll definitely let my DMF know and she'll decide from there if she can add enough story to it! Thank you all for your advice.

Grek
2020-04-06, 08:10 PM
Part of Kingmaker is that you can't run an entire kingdom alone. You need a council. Normally, that'd include the other PCs and some NPCs. But for a solo campaign, it'd be pretty much 100% NPC, who presumably have at least some compunctions about working with a necromancer who's going hog-wild with the necromancy.

nedreow
2020-04-09, 04:10 PM
An entirely different option that would explicitly allow for an evil necromancer is Hell's Vengeance. In that AP you play the loyal servant of Thrune against an invading army of good.
The adventure takes place both in the parts of Cheliax controlled by the crown and infiltrating the towns held by good guys. So you can both flaunt your minions, and have hide at different times. Furthermore it is a fairly RP heavy AP.

Alcore
2020-04-10, 01:40 PM
Carrion crown would be a rough choice anyhow; "burn the witch" would be an issue, at least in the parts I have played.
... The 3pp way if the wicked would likely work well, but I haven't played it.to expand for the OP...


Carrion Crown would definitely work (might have to scale stuff down). The basic part of the story that kickstarts the rest is this old researcher guy dies (murdered) and you (PC) was mentioned in the will. This guy did a lot of traveling where he, somehow, met you and he researched dark and wicked things (for only knowledge as i recall).

Your necromancer will have no shortage of dead things to fight, summon or bind. Problem is that the country is both filled with undead and anti undead sentiments; if you look like a necromancer you won't survive long in a town without an army.


Way of the Wicked will definitely need to be powered down. Apart from the first book the AP is not kind to underpowered (or even average) PCs and nearly everything you face relevant to the plot gets a bonus to fight you (or just your minions if still LN). Also non evil characters might not enjoy selling their soul near the end of book one... it's not explicit but blood oaths are present.